Scaling The Fortress
by MultipleCyrosis
Summary: It started when they were 13, but he rejected her. Now, five years later, she still holds the same feelings but has he changed? The story of Neji and Tenten, how they ended up together.[Chapter 6 up][NejiTen]
1. The Usual

**AN: **After reading many NejiTen fics, finding some good, finding some bad, finding some REALLY good, while still finding others extremely bad, I found that there are not enough REALLY good NejiTen fics. I want some! So, I'm going to write myself some. Not that I can write REALLY good ones, but at least I can try. Hehe…And if you are reading this from my other fics in Bleach, don't worry! This fic is secondary to my other fics! Which reminds me. If you like Bleach, head over there and read my fanfic. XD. Its called A Summer Job. If you don't read Bleach, then just ignore this.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

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**Scaling the Fortress – The Usual**

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This early in the morning the ground always had a slight mist hovering over it. He didn't know why, but he knew that it _was _cold whenever he came. It was also barely light when he came. He would sit there with his eyes closed, letting his thoughts take over his body.

He came alone and then sat on the slope of the hill. But, he knew that it wasn't that big a deal. Because soon, his teammate would join him in a few moments of silent meditation before executing their usual routine.

Usual routine being, one they had carried out for the last five years. Five years since…

Neji was jerked gently out of his thoughts as a presence knocked at the corner of his mind. She was here. He didn't open his eyes, just let out a small sound to acknowledge her presence. Finally when he did open them, they drifted towards his left, where a young kunoichi was seated, her eyes closed.

When she wasn't watching him, he gave himself the liberty to look closer upon her. Her hair was done up in the usual messy buns, and her face radiated peacefulness, a slight smile glancing across her features. Her face was void of any makeup, her lips faintly red, but her skin was still the same smooth complexion from five years back.

She had grown, he decided, but hadn't changed.

Tenten flicked one eyelid open, to find the piercing gaze of Hyuuga Neji resting upon her. She had to mentally shout to herself to avoid reeling back in shock. Even after all these years, she still liked him. Whenever he turned his deep gaze on her she felt like an elementary schoolgirl, blushing madly every time their crush turns an eye to them.

Which was exactly what Neji was doing. Turning his eyes towards her. And she was desperately trying to hide her blush, which she knew would be easy to detect in the morning mist. Red always stood out.

The prodigy seemed to realise what he was doing, wait, he already knew what he was doing, but he seemed to realise that the girl he was staring at was now staring back at him.

He grunted softly, and then got up, signalling the start of their training.

Tenten followed suit, but not before wondering why he had been staring at her. She cast the thought away to the back of her mind to re-examine when they had finished training.

* * *

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE! I SEE YOU HAVE COME HERE EARLY AS USUAL! OH, REJOICE IN THE NAME OF YOUTH!"

"GAI-SENSEI! I WILL RUN 6000 LAPS AROUND KONOHA FOR TRAINING!"

"LEE! YOUR YOUTH ASTOUNDS ME!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

And then, somehow, a backdrop of sunset came materialising around them, nullifying any laws of nature that were practically screaming, "It's morning!"

As his student went off to run the 6000 laps, Gai turned his attention to his other students, who were sparring furiously. That training had developed about five years ago. Sure, they had sparred with each other before five years ago, but it never really turned into an _obligation _until five years ago.

The two were good for each other, he decided. Tenten's long range attacks that could pierce almost _any _defence, while Neji's short range attacks, with a ultimate defence that could stop almost _any _attack…They could go all out, without danger of killing each other.

The spandex clad ninja turned around after observing them for a few minutes. Time to catch up to his counterpart. The two here would compliment each other's attacks. No need for him to be there.

* * *

After executing his last _kaiten _he slowed to a stop, and seconds later, his team-mate dropped from heights unknown in front of him. It was his last kaiten; if anyone tried to attack him now, they would have a pretty hefty advantage, considering his chakra reserves were basically nothing at the moment. Luckily the kunoichi in front of him had no weapons anymore; they were littering the space around them.

She looked up at him and grinned, between panting. She had obviously gotten better, to tire him out this much. But, she was tired out as well, and it seemed like it was about time they finished anyway.

An unspoken moment passed between the two, before they carefully lowered their defences, and walked silently to the curve of the hill, where they had been sitting, hours ago.

There was no longer any morning mist, and the grass wasn't uncomfortably wet. The sun had come out, and was drying everything it could reach. Which was basically everything. The gentle slope of the hill was now dry, and Tenten reached it first, collapsing onto the soft grass with a groan.

Neji lowered himself onto the grass in a much more dignified manner, although his primal instincts told him to follow suit. Sitting in the soft grass was almost a healing agent to their wounded bodies. Though, this time, tending to their wounds wasn't a necessity. For some reason, none of her weapons actually hit him, and he hadn't actually managed to get a serious blow on her. Basically, they were just exhausted.

Tenten turned onto her side to eye the Hyuuga ninja, who was lying down next to her, his hands behind his head, staring up into the now blue sky. She studied him for a moment, even though she knew he could see her. His blank eyes looked firmly up to the sky, while his handsome face reflected the sun. His hair tie had broken during the fight, and his hair cascaded down his shoulders, and behind his back.

"I'm jealous."

The genius turned to her, his pale eyes questioning.

"Of your hair," she explained.

"Hn."

She lazily flicked a hand out towards his hair, only to have it stopped by the genius. She pouted, though she knew cuteness would be the last thing that worked past the defences of this ninja. How little she knew. Surprisingly he let go of her hand, leaving her free to touch his silky tresses.

She combed through his hair absentmindedly, thinking about what he was thinking. The Hyuuga genius never allows someone to be this close to him. Or touch his lovely hair. There were probably dozens of fan-girls that would have loved to do what she was doing at the moment, but she wasn't like them. Neji had silenced them a long time ago with his infamous glare. That stopped them talking to him. That didn't stop them talking _about _him, however. Everyday, Tenten could hear new rumours, mostly about her, and new things she had _never _even dreamed about the Hyuuga prodigy.

She would have loved to continue playing with his hair, but the morning training session they had just had took, and always took, a lot out of her stamina. Neji trained mercilessly. It amazed her to how she had kept up with him all this time.

Exhaustion finally kicked in, and she felt eyes falling, and herself falling onto her friend's shoulder.

Neji grunted in surprise as he felt a familiar weight land on his shoulder. He looked over to Tenten, who still had one hand in his hair, and her head against his shoulder. She looked comfortable, he thought, so he didn't move. He tried to ignore that fact that her head fit so…well with his shoulder. His arms were still behind his head, and if he moved them, it would end up with his arm around Tenten. He did _not _want that to happen. Well, he did, but he couldn't admit it to himself.

It had been five years ago, since they had started these training sessions. Five years ago, they had all trained as a team, but something happened that broke apart the unity for a bit.

She was thirteen, he was thirteen. She had approached him quite awkwardly for someone he had known almost all his life. He had wondered what was wrong with Tenten. Then she had told him, without much further ado, that she liked him. She wasn't like those screaming fangirls that had thrown themselves at him, proclaiming that they had loved him from the second they saw him. Her confession…was quiet, almost as if she expected it to be a rejection. Which, of course it was. Well, not entirely, but actions speak louder than words, and after a few moments of staring at his teammate, he turned his back on her, and walked slowly back to the Hyuuga compound. Slowly.

She had watched him go, and for the first time since she was a kid, she had actually let herself cry. She never let herself cry, always bottling it up, trying to be strong. She didn't have any parents, so she didn't have anyone to turn to. Instead, she turned to herself, telling herself that she needed to become strong. Afterwards, she finally agreed that it was just a stupid crush, spawned by the powers of adolescence, and that she would get over that cold, stupid, unfeeling jerk. She was only half right. It was spawned by the powers of adolescence, that was certain, but she never did get over him. It took her a week to get back into the usual routine of training with her team, but when she came back, Gai didn't question her.

It was hard, training with her teammates again, training with _him_. She tried to hate him while she trained, but found that she couldn't. After surviving the training session, Gai and Lee left her and Neji alone. She had waited, expecting the prodigy to go off, not waiting for her, not waiting for her because he didn't care.

Thus, she was surprised, when he had walked up to her, and started talking.

"You should concentrate more in our training session. It's endangering the whole team."

She had kept her steely resolve, but the insides of her were screaming, 'I knew it was too good to be true.' She turned away, almost crying again. She had thought the Hyuuga prodigy would have thought over his unspoken answer to her, but she was wrong. His next words shocked her out of her misery.

"Tomorrow morning, train with me. Early." With those few words he abruptly turned around and walked back to the Hyuuga compound. She had turned around, disbelieving that he had actually said that. He hadn't told her that he loved her, or kissed her passionately, but the invitation to train alone with him was enough for her. Even though she would have liked him kissing her passionately. Somewhere deep inside her told her that he was just feeling sorry for her, but she cast the thought away, preferring to live in blissful ignorance, rather than face the truth.

But, sure enough, he was there that next morning. Waiting for her. He had kicked himself on the way home, because he didn't tell her the exact time. So, he just got to the training ground when the sun rose. That would be early enough. She arrived a few moments after him, and after a few awkward moments, they sparred.

And from then on, it became a type of tradition that they kept. All relating back to that incident, five years ago. Gai and Lee never questioned their training together, and had instead launched themselves into a vibrant, green, training method that largely consisted of laps. Even Neji was amazed at their quick transition. But, he never questioned why, and focused on sparring with his teammate.

Neji closed his eyes, tired of gazing at the sky. He remembered that he desperately wanted to accept Tenten. Well, maybe not _desperately, _but he did know that he liked her. Even Hyuuga's, complete with their death stares, also like members of the opposite sex, unbelievable as it may sound. They just…never said anything about it.

He wanted to accept her, but told himself that he had too much responsibility, the crap between the main family and the branch family, his obsession with becoming invincible…but deep down he knew that he was just hiding behind those things…because he was afraid. And he didn't want to admit it to himself. He was afraid of letting her in, letting her become a personal part of himself. That would _definitely _show a weakness. That was why, he turned around that day. To soften the blow of rejection, he had offered himself for training. This was probably the lowest he could've stooped down to, helping his weak teammate. Surprisingly, she was not as weak as he had thought, and she grew stronger everyday under his constant training.

He tried to drift off into sleep, even though his eyes had closed a long time ago. His arms moved instinctively out from beneath his head, coming to rest on his teammate's soft body. If he hadn't been so exhausted, he would have jumped back. He had almost forgotten that Tenten was lying on his shoulder; she had felt so comfortable.

He didn't move his arm. Anyway, they were out in their old training grounds, hardly anyone ever came here. Plus, he had grown such good friends with Tenten over the years that he knew she wouldn't have minded. He knew her too well, even though he would never admit it to himself.

Sleep shifted silently into his exhausted brain, and the two of them rested on the grassy slope as the hours ticked by.

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**AN: **Well, I don't really have much to say…this is basically an introduction sort of thing. Please review…I don't really know if I'll update this really fast cuz I have to catch up with all my other fanfics…groan…I should stop writing new ones, and start finishing a few. Well, anyway, yeah, review, and depending on how much reviews I get, I'll update really fast. If I get none…well, I'll update really slow then. XD 


	2. Out of Tradition

**AN: **Hey, thanks to all you reviewers. I totally love this pairing XD! So, anyway, in case you couldn't add 13 and 5, Neji and Tenten are both 18. Oh yeah, and in case people were wondering why I held off posting this chapter for a while...its cuz I was waiting for inspiration! HAHAHA, actually I was waiting for at least 10 reviews to see if people were actually reading this :P heheh, well, on to the story...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

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**Scaling the Fortress – Out of Tradition**

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Neji opened his eyes. He briefly wondered why his eyes hadn't opened, but he realised that it was already dark. He reminded himself that it was December, and the nights came early. He cast his eyes to the soft body next to him. In the cool winter air he could really distinguish the heat radiating from her.

It had always been like this. They would spar, then end up sleeping from mid-afternoon to sunset. Except, of course, this time it was winter, and it was already dark. Lying there in the dark, watching the stars slowly populate the sky; it was sort of comforting. Much more comforting than meditating.

The girl next to him stirred, he guessed it was about time for her to wake up. He waited a couple of minutes for her to move, but upon closer inspection she hadn't opened her eyes. Neji sighed. He would have to wake her up. He didn't really_ want _to wake her up, it was just that it was…troublesome; as the Nara genius would have put it. Tenten; from the years he had gotten to know her, was a pretty deep sleeper for a ninja.

He reached around her with his other arm and gently shook her lithe form. No response. Neji sighed. He shook her a bit harder the next time. She simply curled her hands around his shirt and tried to snuggle deeper into him.

Well, enough of the gentle shaking. Time for some real waking up. If he was anyone else he would have grinned, but being Hyuuga Neji…well, he just doesn't grin over some mischievous idea. He let a small blast of chakra invade her wrists to stop her from gripping his shirt. Moving away at an inhuman speed, he let her head drop straight into the ground.

He observed her from a few metres away, noting at how she clutched at sleep, but then finally gave into consciousness. The way she scrunched up her small nose when trying to retain what little rest she was going to have was rather cute. Neji frowned. He did _not _just think that.

Tenten opened her eyes after being rudely knocked on her head.

"Ugh…" she muttered wanly, trying to figure out when and where she was. Finally she remembered. Sleeping session with Neji. Happens every time they finish sparring.

She sat up groggily, noting that the Hyuuga genius isn't next to her anymore. But she knows he'll come back. They haven't totally finished their little 'tradition'. Sure enough, a few seconds passed, and Neji came out from nowhere to sit next to her.

"Neji."

He acknowledged her with a small nod of his head. Honestly, the Hyuuga genius must nod about a million times a day. The two of them sat underneath the now dark sky. More and more stars came out as they watched.

Involuntarily, Tenten shivered. The winter weather was really getting into Konoha. Her shiver bought a sharp gaze from her friend, who eyed her attire. She sighed. He was probably going to say something about not wearing enough clothes, though she wore more clothes than the average kunoichi.

Instead of saying anything, he merely raised an eyebrow, then looked away. That was definitely un-Neji like, but it wasn't surprising. Since when did he _really _care for her anyway?

Neji stood up on the slope of the hill. Looking closely at Tenten was the wrong decision. In the half light she looked…good, he decided, and the light curved around her limbs. He had to stop himself from thinking anymore. Of course, he wouldn't ignore the fact that Tenten was a grown woman, but he _could _make himself believe that she wasn't as attractive as she really was.

"Lets go."

The Weapons expert looked up at her teammate and sighed. Just when she thought looking at the stars with her friend would be romantic, he had to ruin it. She stood up slowly, savouring the moment.

She stifled a yawn, then asked, "Same place tonight?"

"Yeah."

She grinned, in spite of herself. "Cool."

"Hn."

* * *

They had reached the main area of Konoha, and there was still a lot of people out. Lights illuminated their way, so there was no trouble stumbling about. 

_Just like every other night, _Tenten thought to herself. Nothing really special.

She was jerked out of her thoughts when Neji reached down and grabbed her wrist.

"We're here."

"Huh?" she looked confused for a moment, and the touch of Neji wasn't really helping that much. She turned to where he was pointedly looking at then added an, "Oh."

They were at the restaurant. In the past five years, her and Neji had always ate at this place after they finished their regular afternoon nap. That was basically their tradition. They woke up early in the morning, sparred till mid-afternoon, then slept till around sunset. Afterwards they always went to a restaurant, or some other place to eat.

The sounds of the outside were blocked out when she and Neji walked inside the plush restaurant. Inside romantic music was playing, but she knew Neji was unaffected. He was always unaffected. She bit her lip in regret. The first time they had come here was on the day of their first early morning training session. That was probably why she liked this place the best. She remembered that first day like the back of her hand.

They had finished sparring, and had collapsed on the grassy slope. Tenten wanted to ask Neji about her confession, but was too tired. Finally she fell asleep, and soon after the Hyuuga genius followed suit. They had woken up with the sunset, and after a while, Tenten got up and started to walk home. Neji probably didn't want her hanging around longer than she already had been. There was…_a rift_¸ she decided, between them. Before she had confessed things had been pretty easy going between them. Well, as easygoing as you get with a proud, silent, Hyuuga Neji. Then…she had to confess her feelings.

As she had started to walk, she was stopped when the 13-year-old Neji grabbed her hand.

"Lets eat somewhere," he had said, no emotion splaying on his voice. Well, that was unusual, she thought, desperately trying to quell the butterflies that were flying hopelessly around her stomach. Hope, hope, they practically shouted at her. There was still some hope. Or was there?

"We have just finished a gruelling training session, and having rested, it is to our best interests to eat something to regain our strength."

She knew it was too good to be true. But, she decided later, it was worth it, since she was hopelessly in love with the Hyuuga genius.

And that night, he had taken her to the most prestigious restaurants in Konoha. Most people were surprised at seeing such a young couple there, but as soon as they realised that it was Hyuuga Neji, they shut up. Their appearance became expected to the staff, as they came there nearly everyday.

One of the older waiters, one that nearly always served them guided them towards a table. He did not say anything, and hid any looks of amusement behind his cool, composed, waiter mask.

"Hey Neji," she asked, after the waiter had taken their order.

"Hm?"

"Did you ever consider being a waiter?"

Neji nearly choked on his glass of water. "W-what?"

She smiled, amused at his reaction. "Oh, you know, your famous Hyuuga no-emotion-stare would go well under a waiter's qualifications."

"Shut-up."

She stuck her tongue out at him sweetly; oblivious to the attention they were receiving. He just grunted.

Tenten sighed. It was just her luck that she was parentless, had no friends except for two hyperactive green morons, and an emotionless genius. And it was also her luck that she became very good friends – no, best friends – with the emotionless genius. Studying the object of her infatuation, she asked herself, yet again, what in the world did she see in him.

First, his looks. Ok, he was handsome, and he had hair girls would die for. She had told him this many times, and almost always received the same answer, 'Hn.'. Turns out 'Hn,' can mean many things. His eyes were white, something she thought could never be attractive, but over the years she had found it exactly that.

But past his looks, what did she _really _see? She didn't really know. It was probably the fact that she had known him since…well, a long time, and he had just been there for her. He never said anything, but with his presence she always felt comforted.

"Tenten."

She snapped out of her…well, ogling, and reversed back to reality.

"Mmm?"

The way her voice curled at the end of her statement to make it a question would have knocked out any normal guy. Neji was not a normal guy. Even though…he did find it rather cute, he didn't admit this to himself. But in the heat of the battle in his mind, he forgot what he was going to say. And now, the girl was looking at him expectantly.

He tore his eyes away from her gaze, though he could still see her from the corner of his eye, her face now filled with a questioning look. Slightly exasperated, he laid his hands down on the table; only to find that he had just put his hands on her outstretched ones. In his surprise, he turned around to look her in the face, which was a mistake. Now he was mesmerised by her deep questioning gaze, and a slight tinge of pink had graced the top of her cheeks.

He had to mentally pinch himself to stop the same tinge of pink from spreading across his face.

_Hyuuga Neji does not, I repeat, DOES NOT blush. x50_

He was chanting this little ode in his head, while his hands were upon hers and his eyes staring into hers. Thankfully the old waiter had come back, and if he saw the position their hands were in, he didn't let on. He did however, cough politely, which caused the two teammates to look up at him.

"Excuse me, but I have to place the dishes where your hands are currently, ahem, engaged."

Neji finally recoiled, and carefully took his (now shaking) hands and placed them on his lap. Tenten did the same, except her blush seemed to be taking a rather deeper colour. The waiter placed the food on the table, and then walked away, his waiter mask unbreakable, but inwardly he was laughing his old sides out.

The two ninjas sat there, somehow uncomfortable. Finally, Tenten was the one that broke the silence.

"L-Lets e-eat," she stammered, and without further ado she plunged into her meal, a bit too fast.

"Hn." Luckily all Neji does is grunts, and you can't really stammer while you are grunting, so he was saved from further embarrassment. Further embarrassment, that is to say, on his part. However, his teammate seemed to be devouring her food rather, loudly. In other words, she was stuffing her face in the middle of the fancy restaurant, causing heads to turn. She was oblivious to the eyes that now centred upon her. Neji wasn't.

"Tenten."

When she didn't respond he said her name again, this time a bit louder.

"Tenten."

She looked up at her teammate, who was about to tell her that the majority of the restaurant was now looking at them, but then was cut off by the site of her face. It was hilarious. She had food sticking out of her mouth, caught by surprise, since Neji hardly ever talked while they were eating.

'Huh?' she said, but it came out as a, "Hrrh?"

He sighed. But that was Tenten for you. He was going to tell her about the people looking at her, but decided on teasing her.

"You eat messier than Naruto."

She immediately swallowed the food that was in her mouth and looked at him angrily.

"W-WHAT?"

It wasn't the majority of the restaurant; now it was the _whole _of the restaurant.

The Hyuuga genius merely smirked – his most famous emotion other than scowling – at the girl in front of him.

"Neji…I'm pretty sure I didn't hear you say what I thought you did…right?" Her voice was dangerous, something akin to an extremely sharp kunai dipped in poison.

Neji continued smirking. "Hn."

This got on her nerves more. Damn that cold blooded jerk. She cared so much about him, yet he makes fun of how she eats. Ok, so maybe she did deserve that, but to say that she ate as messy as Naruto – that was insulting. She growled lowly at him, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

"Hn."

Even though he wouldn't admit it to himself, he enjoyed teasing the brown haired kunoichi. The way she got so angry…or maybe it was the way she looked kinda cute when she was angry – no scratch that last thought – he did not think she was cute when she was angry. Ok, so maybe he did, but no one's going to know that, are they?

Suddenly her face switched from angriness to a pout.

"Hmmph. Fine. I just won't eat."

Neji sighed. She could never take a joke. And then she wondered when he couldn't take her stupid jokes.

He looked over to her, and noted how cute she looked when she was pouting. ARGH! Scrap that last thought.

"Tenten."

She looked away from him, towards the wall.

"Tenten," he said, his voice more dangerous, and low.

She didn't take her eyes off the wall. The eighteen-year-old boy sighed. Looks like it was going to be drastic measures then.

Activating his _Byakugan _to scare the other people in the restaurant back to normal, he took her hand. At his touch he felt her flinch, and not for the first time, felt guilty.

"Tenten. I'm sorry, okay?"

She slowly took her gaze off the wall.

"What did you say?"

He gritted his teeth. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some of the more interested people in the restaurant standing up to get a better look. He even heard the words, "Cute little lover's spat". But he couldn't do anything about it now. Plus, Tenten's touch was making him feel weird.

"I'm sorry, ok? Can we get back to eating peacefully?"

She eyed him, inwardly laughing that she had actually got him to apologize. And twice, in the same day. She let out a calculated sigh.

"Don't do it again."

The minute the words were out of her mouth, his hand left her hand and he abruptly began to eat his food. She looked at the place where his skin had touched hers. That was so unfair, she thought. Holding my hand to gain forgiveness – even though she knew she would have forgiven him anyway, hand or no hand. But it was still unfair, she thought. Considering the boy opposite her knew her feelings, it was pretty damn unfair. She wouldn't have been surprised if the guy knew his impact upon her rational thinking processes.

She began to eat – this time slower – and divided her time between eating and watching the guy that had such a big impact on her life.

* * *

They finished their meal, and after Neji had paid, they walked outside the restaurant. The cold wind whipped around their bodies, and both of them unconsciously wrapped their arms around their bodies. This time Neji took a good look at what his friend was wearing. She blushed as he let his gaze travel down her body. 

"Neji, could you…not?"

"Huh?" He looked genuinely confused, and when she looked into his eyes she knew that they had no perverse thoughts lurking behind them. However, she continued the conversation to see if she could get anything interesting out from the cold Hyuuga.

"You – looking at me."

"What?"

"Stop it."

"I wasn't looking at you."

"Sure you weren't."

The genius let a small sigh escape from his lips. Instead of explaining himself, he said, "Let's go to the market."

She looked at him in utter confusion. Ok, so this was interesting, but it was also pretty damn random. Why in the world would he want to go the market.

"Er…Neji, isn't it a bit late to be buying hair products?"

The genius scowled at her, while she merely giggled, in spite of the cold.

He ignored her jest, and started walking in the direction of the market.

She ran up next to him. "Ok, seriously Neji, what are you thinking?" In all of her life, he had never asked her to go to the market for any reason. She hardly went shopping because she hardly had any spendable money. When she did go shopping, she shopped alone, and she usually saw most of the kunoichi's there; lately she had seen Sakura drag the cold, emotionless Sasuke there. Which was quite a feat. However, almost everyone in Konoha knew that Sasuke had toned down a bit. He had matured, and when his relationship with Sakura was made official, he had toned down even more. Obviously the girl was good for him.

Unlike this cold, unfeeling person beside her. Even though, that cold, unfeeling person is the one she loves. She looked over at Neji, who was impassively staring forward, walking in the direction of the market.

"What's the time?" he asked.

"Uh…I think it's about 6:30…"

"That's enough time."

"Time for what?"

"You'll see."

* * *

The market was a totally different place night. It was sort of like a festival, minus ¾ of the people. Festival meaning lights, fountains, all the rest of it. Quite romantic, Tenten thought, but she knew her friend too well – he wouldn't bring her here for the romantic feel. Even though there wasn't much people around, most of the shops were still open, however, and Neji walked through the main square, trying to look for a certain shop. 

Tenten looked over at him, cocking her head to the side.

"Hey Neji, are you sure you didn't drink anything weird at the restaurant?"

He ignored her, just as she thought he would.

"Byakugan."

She let out a whimpering 'meep', and yelped back a few feet. Byakugan in the shopping area? Luckily there wasn't much people around to get scared away by his 'freaky eyes' as most people called it.

"Ok, found it," she heard him mutter, and a moment later his Byakugan deactivated.

"Found what?"

"Oh." He turned to her, as if finally recognising her presence. "I found the shop I was looking for."

"Neji," she said playfully, "You and I both know where the hair accessory shop is. Why don't you -…"

She was cut off as he grabbed her hand and dragged her to a nearby store.

"Huh? What the hell?" she asked, completely surprised, and not bothering to hide it. He had dragged her into a ladies' fashion store. She looked around, wondering why the hell Neji, of all people, had dragged her into this store.

"Uh…Neji?"

"Find a jacket."

Neji was never one for many words.

"W-What?"

He rolled his white eyes. "Find a jacket," he said in a tone that one would use with two year olds.

"I know that," Tenten retorted, "But why?"

He sighed for the umpteenth time. "Its cold. You don't have a proper jacket. Get one."

What? He was giving her pity handouts? She knew Neji knew she was poor, but this was going too far on her pride.

"No."

"Tenten."

"No." She turned to face him fully. "I don't want your pity."

His gaze, which had been averted elsewhere looked at her full in the face. She reeled back mentally, from the sight of his pure white eyes, but she stood her ground. If Neji was going to be an idiot, then she would be stubborn. "I'm not buying it out of pity. I'm buying it because winter seems especially harsh this year, and I do not want you to get sick."

She thought for a few seconds. So, Neji actually cared about her? Oh, sure they were friends, probably best friends, but still…the amount of 'unfeeling' that radiated from him was just too much. Suddenly it hit her. "Oh, you don't want me to get sick because you'll lose your sparring partner, right?"

The Hyuuga looked pained. Did she have to make everything harder for him? A silence rose between them. Tenten wondered to herself if he would actually break down.

She sighed. Ok, this time she would go along with him. Besides, it wasn't everyday she bought new clothes. She walked away from the still form of her best friend who looked like he was looking for something to say, and went deeper into the shops.

_Why did I have to say that? _She wondered to herself as she leafed through the assortment of jackets that were on the same rack. She found a light green one, and turned around, intent on going back and showing Neji. She almost fell backwards onto the rack when she turned around and was met with Neji's toned chest.

The proximity between them seemed to have a direct effect over the use of her voice. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. So, instead, she looked up at her teammate, with a questioning glance.

"Tenten…" he stopped, still searching for words. "I…I'm buying it for you, not because I might not have a teammate, though that is a good reason, but I'm buying it for you because I care about you. I don't want you sick."

She wanted to step back, to get her speech back, but she knew that she would knock over the rack behind her if she did.

"Uh…" She really didn't know what to say. Her immediate thoughts were, 'That must have been the longest sentence he had ever said'.

Neji took a step back, realising how close he really was. With Neji back a few feet she felt she could speak once more.

"Thanks Neji," she replied sweetly, without stuttering…much. "I appreciate it."

That was all she could say. Actually, she was about to add a 'sorry for doubting you', but was interrupted by his cool impassive voice.

"And no, I don't like it."

"Huh?"

He pointedly looked at the light green jacket she was holding – no, clutching.

"Oh."

"I don't want another Gai-sensei." With that, he walked away to wander through the rest of the shop.

Tenten put her hand to her mouth to stop herself from giggling rather audibly. She also took her pulse. It was beating way too fast for her liking, but she put back the light green jacket, and then skipped to the next rack, happily humming some random tune while she searched for a suitable jacket, while Neji watched her with his Byakugan; a faint smile tracing across his face.

* * *

In the end, she had found the jacket she wanted. It was a light brown/grey hue, and almost was as long as a trench coat. She picked it up, looked at it longingly, and tried it on. It fit her perfectly, hugging her newly developed curves. That was good, she decided – it wouldn't get in her way while training – and it would still keep her warm. Plus, due to the size of the jacket she could probably fit _a lot _more projectiles in than was safe for the normal human being. She decided. She really wanted this jacket. 

Neji studied his teammate. She was looking at a nice long jacket, and had tried it on. It fit her perfectly of course, but when she had taken it off and looked at the tag – for some reason the chakra near her face drained away.

_Why?_

He was sure she really wanted that jacket, and he was about to go up to her to collect her requested item, but she had suddenly put it away. He watched her again, as she touched the jacket tenderly, then put it back on the rack. Girls were so weird, he decided. He continued watching her, until he saw her pick up another jacket, not _as _nice, but it seemed to suit her well. Heck, anything suited her well.

After selecting that _other _jacket, she looked up and around to try and find him. She had tried not to look disappointed when she saw the price of the jacket she had just tried on. It cost a lot. By a lot, it was probably the most expensive one in the shop. So, she had put it away rather regretfully, but chose another one; which was a lot more cheaper. Then she looked for her friend.

Neji looked at her, not at the jacket she presented him with. Why hadn't she chosen the other jacket – the one she clearly liked? Girls could be so confusing at times.

"So, do you like it?"

Her voice snapped him out of his 'Girls are weird' mode.

'Hn,' is what she expected him to say, but he said, "No. I don't like it."

How could he say this straight to her face? She couldn't really piece together a comprehensible sentence at the moment, so she kept her silence, glaring at him. He ignored her beautifully. Grabbing her hand as he walked past her, he pulled her back to the spot where she had seen the lovely but expensive jacket. There, he pulled out the jacket she had _really _wanted and said, "I like this one."

That was it. No big extrapolations on why he liked it, or how he knew it was the one she wanted, just a simple, 'I like this one.'

Her eyes grew bigger as he took the jacket that was currently in her arms and replaced it with the one she had really wanted. By now she would have been making up some excuse about how the jacket was too expensive, but she found that her voice wasn't able to protest. He steered her to the counter, where a tired attendant stood. Not saying anything, since that was his style, he took the jacket from her and placed it on the counter.

The attendant did all the cool stuff that happens when you buy clothes, packed it in a plastic bag, and then turned expectantly to Neji.

Oh yeah. That's right, he had to pay. No big problem there. That was, until the attendant told him the price. He could practically feel the gaze of Tenten beside him. But, being Neji, he kept his cool and composed look, and handed over the money. He tried to tell himself that he did _not _just pay that ridiculous amount of money for a stupid jacket, but it hit him when he walked out of the shop with Tenten, and the jacket in a plastic bag.

He turned to Tenten, about to ask her why he had spent a massive amount of money on some jacket/coat. But, when he turned to her, she looked up at him, sincerely smiling. It was a full smile, not a fake one, but one he hadn't seen in many years. Instead of going on about the price, which he could get any day from the reserves of the main house – he smiled a small smile back at her.

She had made it worth it, he thought to himself as they walked out into the night. A cool breeze tickled his face, and he immediately felt cold – and remembered that he still had Tenten's jacket. Not knowing what to say, he pushed the bag into her arms. She looked up at him happily.

"Try it on."

She did just that. Even though in the shop he saw her try it on, and saw it fit her properly, seeing her put it on right in front of him – and seeing how _well _it hugged her curves…well, it nearly knocked his brain out. At least he was _the _Hyuuga Neji, and he doesn't get affected by actions such as these.

After discarding of the plastic bag in a bin nearby she skipped back up to him happily. They walked along in silence until they reached her house. She opened the door, then stopped at the doorstep, and turned around to face him. He just looked back at her, thinking about how happy she had been when he bought the coat.

"Neji…" she began, but didn't continue.

Neji said nothing, but that wasn't unusual.

Seeing that her friend wouldn't do anything to help her out, she inhaled deeply, smelling the new smell that comes with clothes. "Thankyou for the coat, Neji."

He merely grunted, and turned his head the other way. There was no way he was going to allow himself to be shown…embarrassed. Neji wasn't that much taller than Tenten. But he was tall enough that Tenten had to stand on her toes to reach up and kiss him on the cheek.

After she had kissed him, he instinctively raised his hand to his cheek.

"Sorry. I know you don't like being touched. But, I'm really thankful, even though you're probably really mad at me right now," she said while blushing.

His hand dropped from his cheek, his white eyes shining in the dim light radiated off the neighbours. She turned away, about to walk into her house, when she felt him grab her hand.

She froze. What now? He pulled her gently back on the doorstep, and made her face him. She looked up at him, suddenly feeling weak at the knees.

"I just wanted to make sure this doesn't make things awkward between us," he said as he bought his other hand up and touched the side of her face. "I'm not mad."

He let her go, and she practically felt her hand dropping reluctantly back to her side. The boy she had known for almost her whole life had turned into a man. He turned around, walked off her doorstep.

"Goodnight, Neji."

"Goodnight."

* * *

**AN: **Wow! That was a long chapter! – The longest I have EVER written. But I loved every tiny bit of it. Neji and Tenten are just tooooooo cute. Now, REVIEW! - If you want me to continue…If you don't want me to continue…well then…I guess I'll cry. Hehehe…Sorry about any OOCness but seriously…what can you expect – I mean Neji's soft side pretty much doesn't exist – so writers have to make one up. So please, I'd appreciate it if I don't get any reviews like – OMGOOCNESSTOTHEMAX! 

Anyway, till next chapter!


	3. The Mountain Mission

**AN: **Hello, sorry I haven't updated for a bit. Still stuck in my other fics. But of course, Neji and Tenten are next up. Um, not much to say, except thanks to the people who bothered to review. Made my day. And, ugh. I'm wincing at the chapter name. How...lame...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

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** Scaling the Fortress: The Mountain Mission**

**

* * *

**

Neji awoke like he usually did. That is, he would seem all peaceful and quiet in his bed, and then suddenly, without any warning his eyes would snap open, alert and ready. It was like he woke up before he actually woke up, if that made any sense.

Checking the clock, he got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Another day training with Tenten, he thought as he entered the shower. As he placed his hands on his cheek his usually dark thoughts changed to lighter ones. Tenten actually kissed him. Sure, it was on the cheek, but still. It was a kiss. He maintained his cold Hyuuga mask as he finished showering, even though his thoughts betrayed him. Life was good, he thought, though anyone looking at his face would have thought he wasn't thinking that.

He made his way to the training ground, the ground still damp from the morning dew. It was winter, so the sun still hadn't risen. He sat down on the gentle slope, before shifting into his meditating position. Almost immediately a familiar presence entered his mind.

"Tenten?" he said softly, without opening his eyes. She didn't usually come here this early. Usually, she was here at least an hour later than him. When he didn't hear an answer, he cracked open one pearl white eye.

He almost fell backwards. Tenten was bending down in front of him, looking intently at him. Coughing to try and disguise the heat that was engulfing his face, he scowled at her for being so close to him.

She giggled, and then lay down next to him.

He tried to get back into meditating mode, but for some reason her presence was a hindrance. Not that he minded. After failing for the fifth time to gain mental control, he sighed and opened his eyes, and looked down at the girl lying next to him. Her hands were on her stomach, which was slightly exposed due to the shortness of her Chinese shirt. Even though she was wearing her jacket (the one he bought her, he thought proudly, though he didn't show it), she wore her usual training pants, and her hair was in the usual messy buns. Everything about her was so…_usual _that he liked it. If she became _unusual _he wouldn't know what he would do.

"What brings you here this early?"

She looked up at him from her position. "I'm not allowed?" she asked, pouting.

"Hn."

"I was just kidding Neji," she said, gently nudging him. "I went here because…" her voice trailed off, but her mind didn't. _I went here because I was feeling lonely, because I want to know why you didn't tell me off for kissing you, because I want to know if you like me, because I love you and you don't even know it!_

He looked deeply into her brown eyes. He could almost see the thoughts swirling around in her brain. "Because?"

She sighed. "I went here because I wanted to."

He didn't pursue the matter, even though he knew she came here for something else.

"Well, since you're here, do you want to start…" he trailed off after he noticed the extremely dark glare she gave him. "…Or we could just sit here."

The dark glare subsided into a content grin. She had more power over him than she knew. They sat there in silence, watching the darkness around them slowly shift to light, with the rising of the sun. It was beautiful, and both of them knew it.

"It's beautiful," Tenten breathed. _It's even more beautiful seeing it with you…not like you give a damn._

"Hn."

Tenten sighed. "Neji, are you ever going to translate those grunts of yours to me?"

"Hn."

"I take that as a no," she said.

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Well, I don't need to translate them if you already understand them, right?"

She gave another emphatic sigh. "Idiot," she said, but her eyes were smiling.

Neji didn't grin, but smirked at his verbal win. Even though, if anyone else had called him idiot, he wouldn't hesitate to slice his or her throat.

After the sun had made its way higher up in the sky, Neji broke the sacred mood. "It's time," he stated, and got up.

He heard Tenten sigh, as she sat up from where she was. "Aren't you going to ask why I was here early?"

"I already did," he replied, not bothering to face her.

"It's called asking again."

"It wouldn't be polite."

"Just ask me, dammit."

"…"

"I hate you Neji."

"So, why where you here early?"

"Not telling."

Neji closed his eyes. Luckily he was a Hyuuga, with perfect control over his emotions, or else he would have been banging his head against a tree trunk about now.

"Tenten," he said lowly, dangerously.

"What?"

"Tell me."

"No. Not until you really want to know."

"I really want to know. There. I said it. Now tell me."

"Haha, you think that works on me? Tell me truthfully, do you really want to know why I was here early? Even if you won't like the answer?"

"…" Without warning he turned around and turned his cool, impassive stare on her. "Tell me."

Tenten just stuck out her tongue. "Make me." With that she disappeared.

Neji growled. Normally, he would have ignored Tenten's games, but he really wanted to get on with the training, and in order to start, he needed to find her. It wouldn't be that hard.

"Byakugan!"

Ah, there she was. Did she really think she could hide from Byakugan, he thought as he made up a plan to approach her without her knowing. That, and thinking about how good the jacket he bought looked on her.

Silently making a clone, he slipped quietly into the ground, making sure that his clone looked like he was still doing Byakugan. He snuck up behind Tenten, As he leapt forward to grab her, she turned around, checking her back as most jounin's did, and instinctively leapt backwards.

He caught her in midair, and they fell onto a bush, just outside their training area.

"N-Neji…" she stuttered, the proximity of her teammate was almost unbearable. He was lying on top of her, for crying out loud. It was everything she wanted, but wasn't. Their faces were so close together, if Neji had just leant in a bit further he would be kissing her. They stayed there, not moving, afraid that if they moved they would inevitably end up in an a lot more embarrassing situation.

Beneath him, he could feel her soft body, and since they were pressed tightly together he could actually feel her heart beating, slightly out of sync to his; but just as fast. Underneath his arms he could feel the material of the jacket he had bought, and also the silken smoothness of her Chinese shirt. Her fringe was messily placed towards one side, showing him her smooth forehead.

"Uh…Neji? Tenten?" A rather quiet Rock Lee stood a few feet away, his expression on his face barely readable, though one could guess it was something like the face of a woman about to give birth. Needless to say, he was shocked. Sure, he and Gai-sensei had already had the 'special' talk, but still, seeing it re-enacted in front of him…and his two teammates as well!

Snapping out of his shock in the record time of six seconds, his mouth slowly started to gape. Neji and Tenten hadn't moved. They watched together as Lee took in one deep breath after another. Finally, on the third breath he screamed out, "OH. MY. GOSH! NEJI IS DEFLOWERING OUR PRECIOUS FLOWER!"

Out of nowhere, his larger male counterpart appeared. "Lee! Didn't I tell you not to spread rumours like…that…" his jaw slowly dropped open at the sight of Neji lying on top of Tenten.

"LEE! OUR BEAUTIFUL FLOWER IS ABOUT TO BLOOM!"

"GAI-SENSEI! I THINK NEJI'S ABOUT TO BLOOM IN A SECOND!"

"LEE! HOW COULD YOU! ITS NOT CALLED A 'BLOOM', ITS CALLED AN EREC –"

SMACK!

Neji had leapt up before Gai could ruin their appetites for the next month.

After Neji had finished with the two green 'beasts', he asked the green pile on the ground in front of him what exactly they were here for.

"Ah, you are a wise one, Neji, changing the subject," Gai stated, while smiling his creepy smile.

Neji glared his famous glare.

"Neji! We are required to report to the Hokage immediately. We have a mission! A-rank!"

"Oh. Get to the point next time."

He turned around to where Tenten was lying. Actually, she had passed out after Gai had mentioned half of a certain word. Neji shook her gently, though he didn't blame her for passing out.

"Tenten."

"…"

"Tenten."

Neji sighed. "You two go ahead. Tell Hokage-sama that we'll be there in a second."

The two green-clad men started whispering animatedly to each other. Finally they seemed to have reached a conclusion. "We shall leave you in peace for Tenten's deflowering," Lee said solemnly.

A kunai narrowly missed his head. "Leave," growled Neji, not in the mood for Lee, or Gai's jokes.

The two scampered off, but not before yelling, "We'll tell Tsunade-sama that you and Tenten are busy making a new flower!"

Neji shook his head, and didn't even bother wasting a kunai on the two lunatics. Instead, he turned and focused on the task at hand.

"Tenten, wake up. We have a mission."

She didn't move.

Neji sighed. He couldn't be too late to the debriefing. Who knew? Tsunade-sama might believe the two green loonies. That would be horrible, he thought. He gently reached under Tenten, trying to ignore the soft curves of her body as he lifted her up, bridal style.

He had gone about halfway to the Hokage's office, before Tenten started stirring. Which was just as well, because even though it was early in the morning, there was a fair amount of people on the streets, _all _of them surprised that _the _Hyuuga Neji was actually carrying his long time teammate.

He set Tenten down on the ground, his hold on her body staying longer than necessary. Tenten didn't open her eyes, and she let herself fall backwards, as if she was still sleeping. After all, she knew Neji would catch her. Sure enough, her prediction came true. Neji, with his super fast reflexes leapt back to catch her, putting her in the same position that she had been in a few seconds ago.

"I know you're awake, Tenten."

"…" she didn't say anything, but he could see the faint smile that traced across her faint lips.

Neji sighed. And continued walking towards Tsunade-sama's office. Tenten just grinned to herself. Anyway, she told herself, it was the only time in which she _could _do this. He never carried her _at all_. The least she could do was take advantage of the situation, right?

However, when Neji reached the door of Tsunade-sama's office, he knew he couldn't just walk in, holding Tenten bridal style.

"Tenten. We're here. Get off," he said, attempting to drop the girl down on the ground, but she had wound her hands around his neck, not letting him go. He tried to pry her hands loose, but she wouldn't let go. He had to remind himself that she was a jounin, and a strong one at that.

He sighed again. Inside, they would have probably started the mission briefing. Now, the big question was, was it worth going inside with Tenten snuggled up close to him. Though, even if he didn't admit it to himself, he kind of enjoyed the warmth of her body in the cool morning air. And the soft curves that was now easy to see due to the fact that her whole body wasn't very far from his face.

He could hear some talking. That was probably Lee and Gai explaining about how they found him and Tenten. Ok, that was it, Neji thought. He had to explain it correctly to Tsunade-sama before the two idiots inside would blow it to extremely perverted proportions. Because his hands weren't free, he kicked open the door, to find Gai and Lee _sitting, _actually sitting, and looking quite well-behaved.

"As you can see, Tsunade-sama, we found Neji and Tenten somewhat like what they are like now, except Neji was on top."

Neji inhaled sharply, and made a mental note to kill Lee after the mission.

"Oh? Neji, did you have fun?"

Neji blinked. Did Tsunade-sama just ask him if he had fun? Fun with what? Or, more precisely, fun with who?

Tsunade surveyed the completely innocent and shocked look that the Hyuuga genius was giving. He probably hadn't even been kissed yet. Poor, emotionless kid.

"Anyway," she said, before the Hyuuga would glare a hole through her desk, "I have called you here for an A-rank mission. And Tenten," – at this Neji sighed contentedly. The Hokage was now going to tell Tenten to get off him. Finally. Even though…he had been enjoying it. A bit – "Before I forget, nice coat, Tenten. Where'd you get it from?"

Neji deadpanned. The others in the room, namely Gai and Lee, stood up and started dancing around. "GAI-SENSEI! That reminds me. Tenten rang me up last night to tell me that Neji had bought her a jacket! This must be the same one, because I've never seen her wearing a jacket like this!"

If it was possible for the Hyuuga to gape, he did – and he felt Tenten burying her face into his arm. Tenten was embarrassed. Why did that stupid Lee have to tell everyone that she had rung him up? Well, she was so excited last night that she couldn't contain it. Since she lived alone, she had to call someone, and that someone was Lee.

Tsunade-sama just smiled. "Aw, isn't that sweet. Neji bought Tenten a jacket. And it looks expensive too. You know what they say," she said, winking at the Hyuuga genius. "The more expensive, the more he loves you."

At this, Tenten just buried her face deeper into Neji's arm. Neji, on the other hand was envying her for having something to bury her face in. He had nothing.

Lee and Gai were hugging each other in the background, crying rivers. The Hokage merely grinned at the facial expressions of the Hyuuga genius. It was good to see that he was still capable of emotions, albeit very small.

"Ok," she said, in a different kind of voice, that made everyone snap to attention. Well, everyone except for Tenten, who still hadn't let go of Neji. "The mission is pretty simple. However, despite this, it will be extremely hard. You have to deliver this scroll to the top of Lanta Mountain."

Neji felt Tenten stir. Lanta Mountain? Was this woman for real? The actual place would take a whole week to get to, and that was taking the quickest route – which wasn't very safe at all. The mountain itself was a danger zone, definitely not one for climbing.

"The contents of the scroll are extremely important – which is why I am sending you three jounin's and Gai. Not to mention that the mission will have many difficulties along the way. Any questions?"

Lee raised his hand. "Who are we to deliver the scroll to?"

"An old man up there will take the scroll from you. Any other questions?"

There was a pause, but it was obvious there was nothing else to be disclosed.

"Ok, good luck," Tsunade-sama said, handing over the scroll to Gai. "And good-luck to you too, Tenten. And I don't mean on the mission."

Said girl just pushed her pretty face closer into the Hyuuga genius' arm.

"You may leave."

Soon enough, her office was empty again, and the Hokage grinned to herself. It was so cute seeing those two together, she thought, as she sipped her tea. Now to see how well they performed on the mission. Even though, she knew that they would perform the mission perfectly – they always had. Team Gai had been one of the most successful teams that Konoha had ever produced. Even when all three members became jounins, they still stuck closely to one another – that's why Tsunade-sama always put them on missions together – even though she had no obligation to. Their team was the fastest, quickest, and most efficient team she had ever seen before, and she decided, that instead of breaking the highly successful team up, she would keep them together – something almost unheard of. Usually when genin teams progressed to chuunin's, they would be given separate missions. However, Tsunade had done some deep thinking, and it seemed she could keep Team Gai up her sleeve whenever she was in a pinch. And right now, no one else could have done the mission she had given them as well as them. She smiled to herself, sipping her tea. Absentmindedly she wondered if this mission she had given them could be the chance for some…'team-bonding' between two certain members of Team Gai. And no, she did not mean Lee and Gai.

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**AN: **Ok, that's it. It got a bit late, so yeah. Had to stop. But you get the basic gist of it right? They're going on a mission. I hope you now understand why they are still teammates even though they are all jounins. Sorry if Neji was OOC. Can't help it. Hmm, nothing else, just review! Review, review, review! It's my lifeblood! Review so I can update! Thanks a lot! Cya next chapter! 


	4. Travelling

**AN: **Well, well, I can't believe I'm updating. I don't think any one actually read this, but anyway…I'll keep going, just because I knew procrastination is bad. Not that I can really be talking about procrastination, when really I should be studying. Oh well. I'll get over it. Hopefully this new chapter invokes some new reviewers. Anyway, this fanfiction isnt actually meant to be an extreme fighting one. So don't expect a billion enemies to come out and Tenten skewers half of them, while Neji blows the other half away. Sorry!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

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**Scaling the Fortress: Travelling**

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"Right. We'll take the basic formation for now – we'll change it in case anything happens. All clear?"

The usually smiling Gai now looked dead serious, his face searching for any hints of doubt or worry in his team. There was none, as usual.

"Ok. This is going to be a pretty dangerous mission – the most dangerous part will probably be the travelling. Tsunade-sama has told me that since no one actually knows that we are delivering this precious information, we shouldn't encounter much trouble. Still, be on the look out."

He scanned the faces of the three 18-year-olds once more.

"Let's go."

* * *

"Hey, Neji."

"Hn."

Tenten rolled her eyes. She was getting sick of his one word response. She bit her lip in an effort to stop herself from telling him that. Not that he didn't know anyway.

"I was thinking…" she started, as they bounded on tree limbs alone – the other two members of their party had agreed to go further – "What are you going to do for the annual festival?"

"…"

"Well?"

"Oh…The same as I have done in the past years of my life."

"You mean, nothing?"

"Hn."

She sighed. "You should really get out more…you're going to live your whole life without having any fun."

A few more trees passed them by before Neji answered. Even though it looked like it was a nice day, travelling at high speeds on tree limbs wasn't exactly the best place to hold a deep conversation – which it looked like what Tenten wanted. He had had some conversations like this with her before – the usual stuff teens talk about besides sex. He could probably never talk to her about _that_.

"I've had fun," he replied carefully, but his response sounded like he wasn't having fun at all – and if Tenten didn't know any better, she would have laughed at him.

"I know, you _say _you're having fun, but why don't you try going to this festival? Just this once?"

This time Neji turned his head slightly to look at her, not slowing down the pace at all. He could see where he was going quite easily.

"Why?"

"Well…because…you know, I just wanted to see you get out sometime…"

"No, I meant, why now?"

"Oh, sorry," she replied, misunderstanding him. "I'll talk to you later about it. It was just that I kinda get bored when I'm…"

"Not that," he said, his voice cool and impassive. "Why all of a sudden do you ask me if I'm going to the annual festival?"

"Oh…That's…" she trailed off. In reality, she wanted him to go with her to the festival. The annual festival was something that almost every person in Konoha looked forward to. In other hidden villages, they celebrated something called "Christmas". She didn't exactly know what that was, but she knew that their festival was always about a week before their one. Anyway, the past few years she had grown tired of going with her girl friends. Sure, they had fun, but lately she had been wishing that she could have a little more fun than just the usual giggling and laughing with the girls. Besides, Sakura didn't go with them anymore, now that she had Sasuke. Some of the other girls that she usually went with now were seeing/dating other guys. If everything just continued as normal, she would probably end up going to the festival alone – something which she wouldn't do. That would mean she would probably stay at home. Unless…

"…" Neji waited. He was used to waiting for her to sort out her responses – it was something he had noticed only she would do.

"Well…" she took a deep breath. She hadn't asked Neji anything of the sort since that event five years ago. It was still kind of hard to get over it. She just imagined, if she asked him to go with her he would just walk away, like before.

"…"

"I want you to go with me." There. It was out. Now, all she had to do was wait. She had been planning to tell him all the reasons behind it, but decided that she would just keep it simple and wait for his response. As expected, he didn't say anything.

* * *

Tenten had tried not to think of her question the whole time they were travelling. But somehow, it always came back to haunt her. They had spoken after that, but only when the need arose. Neji had not said anything about it since.

Now, five nights, they sat together at the small fire Gai and Lee had set up. Lee was on the other side of the fire asking Gai in extremely loud tones that the enemy might come upon them because of the fire. Gai was answering, just as loudly that the enemy could come if they wanted because he was bored.

Neji let out a small sigh. The enemy would come because they heard shouting, not because of a measly fire. Usually he would be the one to be adamant about such things, however, he had to admit that in the December air, it was cold. And, if enemies did come, it would provide a pleasant break from the monotony that this journey had taken.

"When do you think we'll get there," he heard a small voice say. He turned to Tenten, who was poking a stick in the fire. She was unusually quiet – she was telling both Lee and Gai to shut-up. She looked good in that jacket, he thought to himself for the umpteenth time.

"Probably tomorrow."

"Oh." An awkward pause. "Ok."

Even though Tenten knew that she shouldn't be discouraged, it was hard not to be Though, the Hyuuga genius hadn't exactly told her no, but silence was almost as bad.

"I'm going to bed." Neji stood up. "Lee. What are the watches?"

Lee stopped his extremely lively conversation with his mentor to tell Neji the guarding times.

"Well, I shall take the first watch, Gai-sensei the second, and then you or Tenten will take the last two."

"I'll take the last one." With that, Neji disappeared into his tent.

Tenten watched his tent longingly for a while before she noticed her green friend beside her.

"Oh. Lee."

"You look at him a lot, even when he isn't there," came Lee's reply, lower and more serious than usual.

"Yeah. I know."

"Did you ask him?"

"What did he say?"

"What do you think?"

"No?"

"He said nothing." They were now talking in hushed tones. Gai had disappeared into his tent, and Lee seemed to have calmed down a little.

"Oh. That's good isn't it? That means he's thinking about it," came Lee's whispered response, though it came out as a loud hiss.

"Mm…I suppose… I just wish…sometimes he wouldn't keep me in…its like he knows that it practically tortures me when he doesn't say anything…"

"…" For once, the usually loud Lee kept his silence.

"Anyway, thanks for asking, Lee. I'll see you in the morning."

As she disappeared inside her tent, Lee looked towards Neji's tent.

Neji. The one and only love of Tenten. Lee. Both of them were like brothers to Tenten – in fact, they were the closest things she could call family. But where Lee was like a brother, Neji was... Sure, Lee knew that both of them would unhesitatingly risk their lives for the brown haired kunoichi that they had gotten to know so well, but Lee knew that Neji would never admit that he cared for Tenten that much. And because he would never admit it, Tenten always thought that Neji didn't even care for her. Lee had tried to tell Tenten many times that Neji actually did care for her, but he didn't blame her for not believing him. That event five years ago had certainly drilled into her brain that Neji was unreachable.

She had told Lee when they were 15, that she had actually confessed her feelings towards the cold Hyuuga genius. Even then, two years after, she still had broken down about it. It was then that Lee decided to protect Tenten from any other guys that pursued her, until Neji found out that he actually did love her.

At first, the task seemed easy, but as she grew older, and into a woman, Lee found that he had to stop a lot of guys from pursuing Tenten. But eventually, the boys turned to men, and they stopped trying. It was just too hard to pursue, even though Tenten was one of the prettier kunoichi's – it wasn't worth it, getting bashed up by the famous green beast of Konoha. And even if they did get past Rock Lee, they probably would have to contend with the ice cold Hyuuga Neji – something normal human beings did not want to do.

_Hyuuga Neji. I swear, if you break Tenten's heart again, I, Rock Lee, will fight you to the death!_

Lee didn't know it, but Tenten would have turned down every single guy, anyway.

* * *

Tenten jumped up when she felt someone touch her shoulder. She relaxed when she saw it was Neji.

"Neji."

"It's my turn. You go to sleep."

Tenten shook her head. Even though she was feeling sleepy, she just wanted to be with him.

"I'm not sleepy."

"Yes you are. Go. It's my turn."

"I can't sleep."

"You were falling asleep when I touched you."

"No I wasn't," she whined softly, but knew that it was no use. Neji just continued staring at her in the dim firelight. Tenten could swear she just heard him sigh softly.

"Fine." With that, he sat down next to her.

Tenten turned to look at him in surprise. "What's this, no comments about me slowing the team down due to lack of sleep?"

"Hn."

They sat there for the next few minutes in the cool night air. Tenten could feel her eyelids slowly drooping. Dammit, she hated when the Hyuuga genius was right. Or maybe it was because he had been on so many missions with her that it was second nature to him to see when she was sleepy.

"Neji…" she muttered wanly, as she felt herself drift off.

"What?"

She wondered briefly if she was allowed to put her head on his shoulder. No matter, she would just do it, and see what he did later. She felt him tense up, but he didn't move. That was a good sign. She was fed up with him just leaving her behind.

"Could you…" she didn't finish her sentence, in the hope that Neji would catch on. Chances are, he probably wouldn't, but she really didn't have enough courage to ask him twice in one week.

Silence. Tenten nearly fell asleep, but was interrupted by Neji's low voice.

"I'll go."

Instantly her eyes opened, and she pulled back from his shoulder, looking at him in wide-eyed shock. He turned to look at her, his white orbs showing no emotion at all.

"Thank-you!" she exclaimed, sounding like a little kid. Neji looked at her excitement for as long as he could, and then turned to look at the dim embers of the fire once again. His eyes opened just a bit larger, as he felt Tenten's slender arms encompass his body.

"Thanks, Neji," was her last few words before she fell asleep, cuddled on him. Not that he minded. He would probably never tell her, but at first he had decided that he wouldn't go with her. She could take his silence that way. He thought about it the whole time they were travelling, even though he tried hard not to. For some reason, that particular event from five years ago had stuck in his mind – he couldn't get it out at all. The sadness in her brown eyes when he had turned away, those five years ago. He just didn't want to see that sadness again. Ever. Even if he did hate those stupid festivals.

* * *

Even Gai was puffing when they had climbed to the top of Lanta Mountain. The old man had been there and accepted the scroll, didn't ask questions and sent them on their way. They were on their way down now, but this time they were going much, much slower. Experienced ninja's as they were, they knew that going down was twice as dangerous as going up.

Even though one small slip could cost them their lives, Lee and Gai were talking animatedly. Neji wasn't really listening, he was concentrating on keeping his footing, and, with the help of his 360-degree vision he was checking that Tenten was in a safe position. So when Gai and Lee started talking about something that involved them getting back in record time, he simply ignored it as one of their ambiguous 'quests'. But when Gai addressed him seriously, he turned to see what they were actually talking about.

"Lee and I," he said, sounding very serious, "are going to have a race. We'll just take some of the supplies and start at the bottom of the mountain."

Neji nearly fell off the mountain.

"I think you and Tenten can manage O.K," he said with a wink, and a blinding flash of teeth.

Neji nearly fell off the mountain – again. There was no way that those two green freaks were actually going to hurry back to Konoha just so he and Tenten could be alone…no way…was the words in his mind as he saw Gai and Lee race off at the bottom of the mountain.

Tenten, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind, however, she did seem to be saying a lot less, now that they were gone.

"Idiots," said Neji, more to himself than to Tenten. There was a silence.

"I don't mind," she said softly, not slowing her step.

"Hn," came the usual reply. "It's getting dark," Neji commented. "We'll set camp here."

Tenten let out a breath, trying to tell Neji that she was clearly disappointed in his lack of flirting abilities.

* * *

"LEE! LEE! DID YOU GET IT?"

"GAI-SENSEI! I GOT NEJI'S TENT!"

"MY STUDENT! YOU ARE VERY SKILLFUL!"

"THANK-YOU, GAI-SENSEI!"

"NOW NEJI WILL BE FORCED TO SLEEP IN TENTEN'S TENT! HAHAHA!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

* * *

**AN: **Ok, I'll stop there seeing it's a bit late. Well, hope people are actually enjoying this. How crap if I was writing a fanfic that nobody read. Lol. Review and all that. The next update will come. Honestly. I promise. I just don't know when :P 


	5. Waterfall

**AN: **Hey guys. I'm not really supposed to be writing fanfic at the moment (exams) but what can you do. Even though I shouldn't be writing fanfic, I decided it would be ok to read fanfic, and that gave me some wondrous inspiration.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto

* * *

**Scaling the Fortress: Waterfall**

* * *

Neji was fuming. Not fuming, as in slightly angry, but fuming as in red-in-the-face type fuming. Add to that little puffs of smoke coming out of his nostrils, and he could pass for a dragon, Tenten thought to herself, trying to hide an amused smile that she knew would not go well with the Hyuuga in his current state.

As usual, she waited for him to calm down. It was hard to tell when he was angry to a normal observer, but Tenten had known him long enough to see the tell-tale signs of Neji's wrath. He would get slightly red, there would be some veins that would throb, and, if you looked carefully, you could see the hairs on his arms were standing up. But, only Tenten knew that.

"Ok, Neji, um…" she ventured, trying not to sound intimidated.

His eyes seemed to snap back into reality, and he looked up at her, trying not to glare, but failing. She ignored his glare that would have bored a hole through metal, and said, "It's getting late. I'll, um, go in first."

"Hn."

Secretly she was slightly shocked at Lee's (it had to be Lee) act – she didn't actually expect them to steal Neji's tent. And how did they do it anyway? She lay in her tent, the only tent now, and waited for Neji to stop his sulking – there was no other word for it – and come inside. She was a bit worried, after about an hour of him not coming in. Jeez, it wasn't like it was anything big or anything. They had slept in the same room before. She pondered that thought for a moment. Ok, so maybe her tent wasn't as big as the rooms they had slept in. Ok, so it was a tiny, one-man – one-woman in her case – tent, that, if two people were inside, it would mean touching. And, she knew, the Hyuuga Neji didn't like being touched.

Surely he could make an exception this time, she complained to herself. Closing her eyes for a few seconds she got up, and marched out of the tent. Upon seeing Neji sitting in the same position, twirling a small necklace around his fingers, she promptly sat down next to him. This resulted in Neji looking at her pointedly, and slightly angry.

"What are you doing?"

"That's my question, mister. You're going to 'endanger the mission' if you stay out here and sulk."

"I cannot endanger the mission when we are simply heading back to Konoha," he replied with a smirk.

Tenten sighed. Well at least she got him on the sulking bit.

"And I'm not sulking."

Close. Tenten looked at him. "Yes you are. Are you coming, or what?"

"No."

"So, you're just going to stay out here and die of the wild animals and venomous insects that roam this forest, I assume?" she asked sarcastically.

"No."

Neji didn't have much of a sense of humour.

Tenten sighed again. "Do you really hate me that much?"

"I never said that."

There was an awkward silence. Neji had replied a bit too quickly for his liking, and Tenten was wondering what she should be feeling. Elation? Happiness?

"Well. I'm going to stay here until you decide to come in."

"Hn."

* * *

About an hour had passed, Neji thought. And Tenten was still beside him. But any minute now, she would droop off to sleep, he would carry her back to the tent so she wouldn't get a cold, and then he would go make himself warm in front of the dying fire. Anything, but sleep inside that tiny tent with her. Nothing had really been, said between the two, in the last hour, but that's how things usually went. Apart from the chill, he was comfortable.

He opened one eye to check on Tenten. As he, the genius, had predicted, she had fallen asleep at exactly one hour. He waited a few minutes as she slumped slowly forwards, and then scooped her up quickly and quietly, bridal style. She stirred, but did not open her eyes.

Neji undid the tent flap and knelt down to place her gently on the floor of the tent. It was surprisingly cosy, Neji thought, but it would be just a bit too cosy if he was in there was well. As he got up from his kneeling position, he felt a small hand grab his ankle.

He sighed. "No, Tenten, I'm not staying. Let go," he said quietly, but firmly. Unfortunately the weapon's mistress had other ideas, and she deftly tripped him over, her eyes sparkling with mirth, as she scrambled on top of him to stop him from escaping.

"Neji, you are staying here," she said, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Get off me, Tenten," he said, his voice not having its usual calmness. The softness of her body, the close space, combined with his sleepiness did not work well for him.

"No. You'll just go do something stupid. Like sleep outside."

"Get off me," he said, but his voice was loosing its authority. He had tried to inject some famous Hyuuga-serious-tone into it, but it seemed like that had horribly failed.

"Sleep here."

Neji looked away, and grunted, something Tenten took as a 'yes'. She smiled to herself as she (reluctantly) got off him by sliding to the side. As soon as she did so, she felt him shift, and turn away so that his back was facing her. She scowled, even though she knew he would do that. Well, she was content with him just being next to her.

He lay there for a few minutes, trying to listen to Tenten's breathing, but found that his own was too noisy. When he estimated she was asleep, he turned around quietly, and placed his arms around the kunoichi. He had to keep up his cold figure, but since she was asleep, why not pretend it 'just' happened. He smirked as he congratulated himself on his sneakiness. He let out a breath and drifted off into sleep.

Tenten, on the other hand, didn't get to sleep until early that morning. When she had felt his arms go around her, she thought she had been dreaming. But as he pulled her close, and she heard his heart beating, she knew that it was real, very real. Instead of going to sleep, however, she kept her eyes open, savouring the moment. There was very, very little chance that he would do this in the daytime, or when they were some place else. She might as well enjoy it now.

* * *

"Neji, can we stop with the hurrying already?"

"No."

Jeez. He had been indifferent ever since this morning. One, they had woken up extremely early, probably earlier than when she usually got up to train with him, and two, he acted like he hadn't even done anything the night before, which, she knew for a fact he had. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realise that he had stopped, and she bumped her nose into his back.

As she rubbed her nose, she furrowed her brow.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked, somewhat cross.

"Let's take a detour."

"Huh?" she asked him, disbelieving.

"There's a waterfall around here somewhere…" he trailed off, as he followed another path.

"Neji! Wait!" Tenten increased her speed, determined to catch up to him.

"What's the big deal?" she asked, panting.

Neji looked away. "Actually…"

Tenten shook her head. She did not just see Hyuuga Neji blush. Well, she supposed you could call it a blush. It was more like a slight reddening of his cheeks.

"Well…what?" she prodded. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. What if he was trying to be romantic? Tenten sighed. Well, maybe other girls would swoon if Neji took them on a date to a waterfall.

"Uh…I've always wanted to…"

Tenten almost stopped breathing. She hung onto his every word.

"…Meditate under a waterfall. Like in those books."

She had to restrain herself from hitting him. How dare he mislead her like that. Not that it was intentional or anything, and not that she enjoyed waterfalls immensely…but still.

The waterfall was actually quite a large one, and had an annoying roar which made Tenten have to shout for every one of her words to be heard. She stood on a rock (safely towards the side, because the loudness of the water scared her), and watched Neji.

That, in itself wasn't really a big problem. However, when he began to remove his shirt – that was when it started to become an issue. She was so busy concentrating on telling herself that it was rude to stare, that she almost missed the part where Neji was swept away. The weight of the waterfall was much to strong, but Neji, being the male-ego orientated type ignored that factor, and tried to brave the forces of nature.

Unfortunately for him, the forces of nature were much to strong for him to handle, and he was currently drowning. Fortunately for him, he had a thoughtful team mate named Tenten, who could swim quite well. Without further hesitation, she jumped in, and with some difficulty pulled him to the banks of the river.

There, she scolded him, but her wrath fell on deaf ears. When Tenten discovered that everything she said was not being listened too, she immediately drew up three possibilities.

One, he was dead.

Two, he was pretending.

Three, he had partially drowned and needed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Whatever the reason, Tenten decided she found the third possibility most favourable. It is the most logical, she tried to tell herself. Even if it was the most logical, she couldn't stop from blushing as she pinched his nose.

Here goes.

She placed her soft lips over his cold ones, and breathed out slightly. Everything was running according to schedule. She parted from him, but his eyes still hadn't opened.

Even though she should have been worried, for some reason, she wasn't. Taking another breath, she placed her lips on top of his again, this time slightly opening and closing her mouth. No, that wasn't part of the mouth-to-mouth, but it seemed to be much more effective than her first attempt as she felt his lips move slightly under hers, and then break away rapidly.

"T-Tenten…"

He was about to say something else, but he started to cough out water.

"Hyuuga Neji, you are an idiot," she said calmly, as if insulting the Hyuuga was an everyday thing.

He looked up in surprise, but he didn't say anything.

"You could've gotten yourself killed!" she exclaimed, trying to place some distance between them – also trying to get his mind off what had just happened.

"That was my first kiss," he remarked casually, as he stood up.

As he squeezed his clothes out, Tenten found herself blushing furiously. That idiot! How could he sound so calm and…well, unaffected by this. Well, two could play that game, she thought.

"It wasn't mine," she said, trying to hide the lie in her voice.

"Liar."

"How would you know?" she said, her anger rising.

He gave her his famous I-know-all stare, and then started walking back to retrieve his shirt. When he came back, she was still fuming.

"What?" he asked. "Angry because I knew that was your first kiss?"

"No," she replied. "I'm angry because my first kiss was with you, you idiot," she said, turning away from him.

"Oh."

Tenten frowned. That was not the reply she was expecting. She was expecting some smart-alec comment. The one word answer threw her off, but when she whirled around to ask him what he had meant, he was already walking further on down the path.

* * *

"Hey, Neji."

"Hm?" The Hyuuga prodigy opened his eyes, though he knew she couldn't see him. They were lying in her tent, pushed together, but Neji had turned around so that she was seeing his back.

"Um…" she started softly. "Sorry."

He felt the soft rustling of her blankets after she had said that. He frowned.

"Sorry for what?" he said softly, not moving.

"You know." He felt the blankets move again. She was obviously thinking hard about something, as Tenten only fidgeted when she wanted to think seriously. "The…kiss."

"Oh."

Silence.

Something compelled him to turn around, and he found that he was staring at her back in the darkness. Whatever it was, the dark, or the cold, he scooted closer to her, and placed his arm around her, stopping at her midriff. He felt her tense, but he pulled her closer, not caring.

"It's ok," he said; into her still slightly damp hair.

"Oh." This time it was her turn to be quiet.

"Neji, you know what I've noticed?" Tenten said, her voice barely above a whisper.

There was silence, so she took it as a sign to go on. She turned around in his arms, seeing his emotionless pale eyes up close. She placed one hand around his neck.

"You always seem more…friendly, during night time," she said, blushing. It was dark, she reasoned – he wouldn't be able to see it.

He did, however, feel her breathing quicken. This had some effect on his biological processes, as he felt his own pulse quicken. He was suddenly aware of all the places where their bodies were touching.

"Do I?" he managed, trying to keep his cool mask.

"Yes." She inched closer to him. "Like last night."

Oh. She knew about that. He thought that she wouldn't have noticed his arms around her, but obviously he was wrong.

"What did I do last night?" he asked, immediately mentally kicking himself. That opened way too many verbal loopholes, one which he was sure she would catch on to.

"Oh…you know, this," she said as she moved her face even closer to his. It was impossible to move any closer to him as their noses were already touching. "I was awake," she breathed.

"So?" he said, even though she felt his grip tighten around her waist.

"You wouldn't do that in the day," she reminded him.

He averted his gaze, but did not remove his hand.

Tenten let out a sigh. It seemed that after all these years, the Hyuuga Neji hadn't changed – he just liked to do things without explaining himself. That would have to change someday, she thought.

When he heard her sigh, he asked her quietly, "What?"

"I'm actually glad."

"What?"

"That you nearly drowned."

He grunted, turning it into a soft cough.

"So I could kiss you, you idiot," she said, this time a bit louder. She looked down, applying pressure at the back of Neji's neck, forcing him to look at her. "You would have never let me done that…if you were conscious."

There was a pause before Neji answered. "Oh?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

She frowned at him. "Yes! Admit it, you wouldn't!"

"No."

Tenten rolled her eyes. Neji was such a girl sometimes. But this was a new development, at least.

"So you would let me?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well what do you mean then?" she asked him, taking her hands from around his neck. She folded her arms, and looked away, pouting.

She blushed furiously as it was Neji this time that inched closer to her.

"Tenten."

"What? Go away," she snapped, still pouting.

"Tenten."

"Go away," she said, squirming to get out of his hold on her waist. Unfortunately the prodigy's hold was much too strong.

"Tenten. Look at me," he said, his voice dangerously low, and close to her ear.

After a few more seconds of squirming, she gave in, and found his face quite close to hers. In fact, in almost the same position as the last time.

"What do you want?" she asked crossly, though some of the bite in her words had gone.

"Something."

"What's something, Neji?"

"It's something."

Tenten sighed. Neji was definitely a girl. There was no way a normal guy could act like this. She closed the gap between them, and pecked him on the lips.

"There. Happy? You should've been the one to do it, you know," she said, feeling that she was speaking just a little too fast.

He smirked. If he had been the one to kiss her, that would probably lead to her asking annoying questions.

"I'm not happy."

"What?" she said, feeling the heat come up to her cheeks. Maybe a kiss wasn't what he had wanted. How could she be so stupid?

He mumbled something, and she immediately paid attention to him.

"What did you say?" she asked, an amused tone in her voice. She noticed he had loosened his grip, and was looking away.

"Nothing."

"Come on, say it Neji."

"You heard me already."

"Neji please," she whined, but the stoic Hyuuga didn't bat an eyelash.

"I won't do it if you don't ask again. And politely."

He didn't say anything.

She sighed. "Come on, say it. I've been waiting for you to ask me this since…" her voice trailed away, before she could dig up any unpleasant thoughts.

That did it. She felt his grip tighten around her waist, and she was pressed tightly against his body. After a few seconds of silence, Neji sighed. "I said, can you kiss me again." He gritted his teeth at the last word. He was lucky they were in a tent, in the middle of nowhere. There would be no way in the world he would have said any of this if a human had been within a 2 mile radius.

"Nope."

He looked away. "Please?"

She let out a breath of air, laughing inside of herself. It was fun, being in control, she decided. No wonder Neji liked it so much.

"Only if…" she watched him as he waited. "Only if…you…kiss me back," she said, fighting down the smile that wanted to erupt across her face.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Good," she said, as he shrugged.

Closing her eyes, and ignoring her fast beating heart, she closed the gap between them again.

* * *

**AN: **Hm, felt like a cliff hanger. I hate them. Oh well. Review, and I'll give you the next, hot, and spicy, chapter. Oh, I know you want them. Don't lie. 


	6. Regarding Love

**AN: **Thank you all for your reviews and comments. They were greatly appreciated, and most of them made me smile. Keep it up! Sorry for any OOC you come across, and I hope you enjoy this next, fluff-filled chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

- - -

**Scaling the Fortress: Regarding Love**

**- - -**

Regardless of what one may think, sleep did come for the Hyuuga and the…Tenten. It almost seemed as if Neji was unaffected previous night's activities, for he was up at the same time as he usually was. Before the sunrise. But he didn't wake Tenten up. Instead, he looked at her for a few seconds, propped up on one elbow, and the other hand still around her waist. He had held her again, last night. She had known, of course, because they had been engaging in various activities beforehand. She had also known before, though, Neji reminded himself as he carefully placed the blankets over her sleeping body.

That had been embarrassing, he thought, as he exited the tent quietly. Luckily, everything was dark, and she didn't pursue the issue. Of course she couldn't, because their mouths were doing something else, rather than talking.

He shivered momentarily, as the cool early morning wind blew over him. Due to the fact they were on a mission, he hadn't got any time to personally train himself. But now that things had quietened down, he figured that it was probably best for him to get back into the routine, before they reached Konoha.

_Konoha…_

He commenced his training, by first clearing his mind. But a question just kept popping into his head, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it. Like a spring, just bouncing back.

_What are we?_

What were two people who had kissed? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Could he now officially consider himself as the boyfriend of Tenten? That did sound weird, he thought, though he couldn't mask the pride that ran through his body when he thought of Tenten being _his_. Even though, Hyuuga Neji did not consider Tenten to be anyone's _but _his, so it wasn't as if that really changed anything. Of course, at eighteen years of age, Neji shouldn't really have been thinking of these types of matters – by eighteen, males and females understood the basis of relationships, knew more than enough about the opposite gender's body, and some had already experienced sex. Neji didn't know of anyone who had – of course, he was oblivious to a lot of things, but he _did _know where babies came from.

Neji, of course, had passed 'the stage', better known as puberty. He had breezed through it, really. While the other members of his team, and the rookie nine had been struggling with the awkwardness of adolescence, Neji quietly kept watch. Needless to say, he _carefully _watched a certain kunoichi, by the name of Tenten. He watched her change from the small child that she was, into a dainty, mature (most of the time), woman.

Yes, he did regret rejecting her when they were just thirteen, but he also knew that there were positives about the situation as well. He had gotten to know her _far _better than anyone else had, and probably ever would. Because of her lack of family, she usually just relied on him, except for that time in the past, where she had run away from him. Or rather, he had pushed her away. He did regret it, but it wasn't something he dwelt on regularly.

The real question was, what were they now? Even the oblivious Neji, knew that they couldn't just call each other friends. _Best friends? _No, that sounded like too trivial, like something Ino or Sakura would say to describe their relationship. His relationship with Tenten _definitely _did not reflect that of Ino and Sakura. _Lovers? _No! Not at all. Lovers were sexual partners. He didn't do anything like that with Tenten. So what were they? Not friends, not best friends, and not 'dating' either. They didn't fall into any of these categories. For once in his life, the Hyuuga genius did not know the answer.

- - -

Tenten lay inside the tent, her hands resting behind her head. She was slightly disappointed when she had found out that Neji wasn't there with her, but, after a moment's thought, she deduced that he must be training. The fact that she wasn't really worried about where he was told her explicitly she knew the Hyuuga, and it somewhat scared her. It also reminded her of the step they had taken the night before – nothing serious, just a few kisses, but still, _that _was a step, when one was dealing with the Hyuuga Neji.

Even though no one else was in the tent with her, she hid a smile when she recalled how it felt to be in control. Sure, he could probably still beat her in their sparring sessions, but in _this _environment…She closed her eyes, trying to sort out her feelings. What were they? What did he feel _about _her? No, more importantly, _what _was she feeling?

The first question was quite difficult, she thought, though she could probably say that _before _all this had happened, they had been close friends. Remarkable feat, really, being close friends with an iceblock. But now, after this…she didn't like thinking about these types of matters. It was something the 'girly' girls would gush about – 'Oh, I wonder if he likes me', 'He smiled at me today…' – no, Tenten was definitely not like that.

The second question was probably more difficult than the first. Even though – her lips curved upwards at the thought – he had been rather willing to participate in their…well, make-out session would probably be the best description. _But _that didn't mean he liked her, did it? If _that _incident hadn't happened five years ago, she probably would have deduced that Hyuuga Neji liked her. However, because of his abrupt rejection, she felt uneasy to putting a label on his emotions. She did not want to get hurt again.

The third question…did she like him? Well, obviously she did, but, as she lay in the warm tent, she realised that it was quite different to what she had first felt about him. Even though she had been heartbroken when he had cruelly rejected her, after last night's events, she realised that she couldn't live without him. If, for some reason he had left her, or had just rejected her company, she knew that she probably would die. Certainly, she knew that he was a cold, arrogant bastard at times, and that he was too straight forward, and blunt…but she loved him. Her _crush _had developed into a full-blown _love, _which she had no control over.

Love, according to most people would be: liking someone a lot because of what they are, Tenten thought, as she got up. But, after her experience with Neji, she could safely say that love was liking someone a lot _regardless _of who they are. That definition likened her and Neji, she thought. Though he could be nice at times, she thought, fingering the collar of the jacket he had bought for her, most of the time he was cold and arrogant – but she loved him anyway.

- - -

Neji opened one eye. And then the other. In front of him stood his team mate, with loose strands of hair finding their way outside of her usual buns. She had her hands on her hips, and her lips set in a straight line. Neji immediately scowled. What had he done now? Probably something stupid, like he hadn't eaten his breakfast.

"Hyuuga Neji, did you eat breakfast?"

Neji rolled his eyes. It showed how much he knew her, he thought, admiring her in the sun.

"No. I didn't," he replied shortly. It wasn't as if she was his mum, though a voice deep down inside of him was telling him that without Tenten, he probably couldn't survive. Or he wouldn't want to, same thing.

Tenten shook her head, and sat down next to him. "You really should eat, you know."

Neji frowned. Even though it wasn't out of the ordinary for Tenten to worry about him, it seemed as if she was trying to avoid _something _by talking to him about such trivial matters. "What do you want to say?" he said bluntly. In truth, he wanted to say a lot of things as well, but it would be easier if Tenten did the talking.

"I…" Tenten exhaled. It was obvious that they knew each other well – too well. He had immediately recognised that she had wanted to talk about something. "I was thinking about last night."

Neji inhaled sharply. The tone of her voice conveyed no particular regret because they had kissed…so what was it? Was it sadness he detected? It was a while before he replied. "I…was as well," he said quietly, keeping his eyes shut, thus not seeing his significant other's eyes open wide. "I believe that…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. Was he supposed to say that he liked her? Was that even true? He knew he had some sort of feeling towards the girl, he just wasn't sure how true, nor how long it would last.

"You believe that…?" she continued for him, forcing him to hurry up his thoughts.

"I liked it." He finally stated. Though that was true, that wasn't what he was supposed to say. What he really wanted to do was open his heart out to her, but it seemed that it was closed over; locked down. And, even if he did tell her that he liked her it wouldn't automatically solve problems anyway.

"Yeah…" he heard her mutter. "It…it meant a lot to me," she said, trying to ignore the fact that his eyes were closed. "I still like you, you know," she continued, seeing if it had any reaction. Probably not, she thought, but at least his eyes opened. She searched them for any possible emotions.

He glanced away. "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok," Tenten heard herself say, as if she was already miles away from her body. "I'm used to it –"

"That's not what I meant."

His voice bought her straight back down into her body, her eyes wide, and her mind running full of questions. She opened her mouth to say something, leaning towards him, but nothing came.

"I meant," Neji continued, trying to ignore his fast beating heart rate. "About…before."

"Before…?" she managed to get out, trying unsuccessfully to subdue the hope that was rising in her chest.

"Back when we were kids. Sorry."

Tenten didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had never actually bought the subject up, nor had he said anything about it to anyone. That was why, when he apologised to her, she had been happy. A few moments of silence passed, but it gave her the chance to recollect her feelings. Even if he was apologising for what had happened earlier in their life, did it really mean anything? After all, that was in the past, and even though it was nice for him to apologise, right _now _was what was important.

"And now…" he said, as if reading her thoughts.

"Now…what do you think?" Tenten said, interrupting him.

She had asked him an extremely vague question, but he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I…don't know," he said. At least that was the truth. He didn't know…all he knew was that he felt _something _for her – but was that really enough?

He heard her sigh. "What are _we_, Neji?"

The question hung in the morning air.

"I don't know," he replied without thinking. He immediately cursed inwardly. How many times had he said that? He continued before she could say anything. "I…think I like you."

Translated from Neji-language, it meant 'I like you', but he didn't explain himself. Tenten would know what he was talking about. She gaped. His next choice of words closed her mouth again.

"But…"

There had to be _some _sort of condition, Tenten thought sadly to herself. It was too good to be true, Hyuuga Neji stating that he liked her unconditionally.

"…I don't know whether its enough."

She raised her eyebrow quizzically, and Neji went on to explain his feelings in an inappropriate monotone, as if he was talking about a new battle technique.

"I like you, but I'm not certain whether it is enough for me to keep you forever." Neji closed his eyes. _There_, he had said it. He did like her, but he was afraid that he would somehow end up _not _liking her, if that were possible, and he did _not _want that to happen.

"What do you mean, Neji?" Tenten said angrily. "I don't understand you. First you say that you like me, but now you're saying that it isn't enough?" Exasperated, she grabbed his shoulder, making his eyes open. "What do you mean?" she said, softer this time, searching his eyes for any emotions he may have been hiding.

"I don't want to hurt you."

Tenten laughed a short, harsh laugh. "Hurt me?" she asked, a tone of disbelief laced in her voice. "Hurt me?" she repeated. "As if you haven't hurt me _enough_, Hyuuga Neji. I poured out my _heart _to you when we were younger, but you…you ignored it," she finished off, her voice shaking.

"I…" Neji was surprised by her outburst, but he kept his eyes open this time, watching her every movement.

"How can you say that you don't want to hurt me?" she continued, her eyes starting to water.

"I know…that's why I apologised before," he replied, significantly quieter.

"_No_, Neji," Tenten said, taking a deep breath. "Don't you see? You're hurting me _now_."

He looked at her, questions forming in his pale eyes.

Tenten sighed, wiping away the tears that had forced their way out of her eyes. "If you truly don't want to hurt me, then…" she paused for emphasis before continuing, "Then you have to be with me _now_."

Neji looked away from the girl he had known most of his life. This would change…well basically everything between them. This was his second chance, but also his last. She wouldn't understand his response, he thought. She wouldn't understand him at all. All that he wanted to do was keep her from harm. But when she put it to him like that…

This time, it was Tenten who closed her eyes. Well, she had gone and said it. For once, it was her who wanted everything straightforward and clear, not the Hyuuga genius. She just needed to make sure, that, if he truly had changed, and was willing to accept his own feelings, that he was ready for a commitment of some kind. Sure, it was nice kissing him, and having him hold her, but at the end of the day, she needed some sort of explanation regarding his actions. She needed to know whether he was ready – she didn't need to hear the words 'I love you' from his mouth, but if he liked her like he did _say_…well then why not see if he was really telling the truth. Though, deep down, she knew that Neji wasn't one to lie about these types of things. She opened her eyes again as Neji started to speak.

"I would like that," he said calmly, though he was sure she could hear his heart beat from a mile away. He swallowed as he continued looking straight ahead, not wanting to meet her gaze. It was…embarrassing.

There was a few moments of silence. Neji started forming up all sorts of situations in his head, like Tenten bursting out in laughter because it had all been just a joke to her – revenge for when they were younger.

"Neji," he heard her say.

He turned his head instinctively.

Tenten leaned towards him, kissing him gently. She sat back, with her arms extended behind her, amused at his slightly dazed expression on his face.

Neji looked away, embarrassed. "Thank you," she heard him say.

She looked up to the clouds. There would probably have to be a lot of effort in this relationship - a lot of effort.

- - -

**AN: **Hey, review and tell me what you think. It's **not over** just yet, so review it, give me some ideas if you want, and yeah, I'll update as soon as I can. The more reviews you give me, the faster I'll update. It's an inspiration thing really. Anyway, I still have to write about the festival, so yeah – review!


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